Introduction: Libertarianism as a Choice of Responsibility
Murray Rothbard’s libertarianism is a proposal for those ready to take full responsibility for their own lives. The foundation of this thought is self-ownership—the principle of an individual's exclusive authority over their own body and conscience. From this follows a presumption of liberty limited only by the prohibition on initiating violence. This article analyzes how this simple ethic exposes the mechanisms of power and proposes a radical alternative to the modern state, based on natural rights and the ruthless logic of property.
Self-Ownership and Homesteading: The Inviolable Pillars of Property
The ethics of liberty rest on two pillars. The first is self-ownership, the right to one's own body, which renders any unwanted interference a form of aggression. The second is homesteading—the right to material property acquired through labor and the transformation of unowned resources. Rothbard argues that human rights are inextricably linked to property rights; freedom of speech does not exist without the right to own a printing press or a server.
In this light, the state appears as an institutionalized apparatus of aggression. Rothbard exposes its actions: taxation is organized theft, conscription is slavery, and war is mass murder. To distinguish law from violence, the Smith test is applied: if an act is morally wrong when performed by a neighbor, it does not become right simply because it is sanctioned by a state official.
Intellectuals, War, and Economic Calculation
The state does not rely solely on force, but on a narrative crafted by intellectuals. Their task is to legitimize coercion through the myth that "we are the government." The most powerful generator of this power is war—a mechanism for the permanent expansion of the state apparatus's authority at the expense of citizens. Libertarianism counters this with political isolationism, which prohibits government military interventions while remaining fully open to private trade and international exchange.
In the economic sphere, Ludwig von Mises's thesis on economic calculation is crucial. Without private ownership of the means of production and market prices, rational resource management is impossible. Any planner operating outside the market is "planning in the dark," which inevitably leads to chaos and waste, as confirmed by the historical experiences of socialist systems.
The Strategy of Abolitionism and the Plan to Restore Liberty
The strategy of libertarianism is abolitionism—the demand for the immediate abolition of coercion without moral compromise. In the practical implementation of reforms, the abolitionist clause and the anti-substitution rule are key: every change must actually shrink the state apparatus, not replace one tax with another. Proposed reforms include the privatization of education (money follows the student in the form of a voucher) and the voluntary funding of political parties.
Regarding the welfare state, which creates systemic dependency, libertarians propose "three orders of the day": transparency of transfers, replacing coercion with voluntary social support, and the elimination of privileges for powerful interest groups. Even ecology finds a solution in property rights—pollution is treated as a physical violation of another's property (a tort), allowing for effective compensation claims without the involvement of ministerial bureaucracy.
Summary: Responsibility Instead of Guardianship
Rothbard’s libertarianism is a call to abandon double moral standards. Do we truly believe that what is forbidden to the individual becomes ethical when sanctioned by the state? It is time to stop viewing freedom as a privilege to be requested and start treating it as a natural right. Ultimately, the constant balancing act between liberty and imposed security defines our maturity as citizens and human beings.
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